Column/LTE

Students benefiting from investments in education

To the editor of the White Bear Press:

I hope you and your family kicked off the new school year on a good note! As students of all ages in our communities return to their classrooms, they are benefiting from the biggest investment in education we’ve seen in years.

During my first term as your state representative, I made education a top priority. One of my proudest moments was voting to make all-day Kindergarten available for every child free of charge – an investment that will help close the achievement gap, get every student off to a strong start and save families thousands of dollars. Families with Kindergartners enrolled in the White Bear Lake and Mahtomedi Public School Districts previously paid around $3,000 per year for the full-day program.

Beyond Kindergarten, I helped approve a local funding increase of $546 per student for White Bear Lake schools and $432 per student for Mahtomedi schools. Additional resources and tools are exactly what our students need to continue improving upon their exceptional academic performance, as reported last week by the White Bear Press. We also showed compassion for students who are less fortunate by boosting funding for the school lunch program. As a result, no child will ever be denied a hot meal if they are unable to pay for it.

Lastly, I’m very proud of freezing tuition for Minnesotans earning an undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota and the MnSCU system, including Century College. Tuition had more than doubled over the previous decade, shouldering far too many college graduates with an unacceptable amount of debt. By freezing tuition and approving the largest financial aid increase in over a decade, we began to reverse that alarming trend.

There is much more work to do in the years ahead when it comes to improving our children’s education. Expanding high quality early childhood education and reducing student debt for college graduates must be top priorities. Major investments in education over the past two years positioned us well to meet those goals.

As the new school year continues, I wish the very best for every student, parent and teacher!